Has Gretsch been lying to us for over a decade?

[Adagietto]

Anyway, just wanted to say I love the moment when your cat comes in, and starts playing with your g-string...

I laughed at that too. The funniest moment for me was when Lobster said, "That's right Fender, you are being scolded by a guy wearing a lobster claw in his basement in his pajamas."

 

[Jared Houseman]

Sadly, however this ends up getting addressed for the basses already in existence, I suspect this product just hit end of life.

Then in a few years we will have the Junior Jet III …. now with 2 single coils and snazzy new finishes.

I don't think so. They just released a new set of finishes and have a stockpile of instruments ready to to ship. I wouldn't be surprised if the just put new tags on them that say "vintage style pickups" instead of "mini humbuckers"

 

[LBS-bass]

I don't think so. They just released a new set of finishes and have a stockpile of instruments ready to to ship. I wouldn't be surprised if the just put new tags on them that say "vintage style pickups" instead of "mini humbuckers"

I'm just waiting for stealth changes to occur here.

G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale, Black Walnut Fingerboard, Torino Green

That's likely all they'll do. A screen grab might be a good idea.

 

[mrperkolator]

I'm just waiting for stealth changes to occur here.

G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale, Black Walnut Fingerboard, Torino Green

That's likely all they'll do . A screen grab might be a good idea.

It actually says the words "dual coil" and not just humbucker....

 

[LBS-bass]

It actually says the words "dual coil" and not just humbucker....

Yes it does.

 

[Snert]

It actually says the words "dual coil"

There's one coil in each pickup.

 

[B-Mac]

To me this does not sound like ineptness (and I'm not criticizing your use of the term). It has earmarks of willful decisions.

Maybe about the humbucker versus SC, but having two bridge pickups when one should be a neck pup, well…

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Are these basses fully manufactured in China? Perhaps China just changed the spec on the bass some years ago.

Short story: a friend of mine was an engineer for an appliance manufacturer. His company arranged to buy hinges for refrigerator doors from China. They sent the plans / specs over, China made prototype hinges, they were good, so the company ordered about 100k hinges.

Fast forward several weeks; doors start falling off refrigerators on the assembly line. After China started production of the hinges, they took it upon themselves to change to a lower cost steel to increase their profits.

Did 2220 basses once have humbuckers & “the manufacturing contractor” decide to make the change to single coil? Did they once have a “neck” and “bridge” pickup?

Maybe we’ll find out….

 

[fermata]

I'm just waiting for stealth changes to occur here.

G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale, Black Walnut Fingerboard, Torino Green

That's likely all they'll do. A screen grab might be a good idea.

I'm actually hoping this line isn't true: "...the G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale is easily capable of filling a room with massive subsonic tones."

 

[Adagietto]

Maybe about the humbucker versus SC, but having two bridge pickups when one should be a neck pup, well…

The dual bridge pickups seem prevalent enough that I'm inclined to think that it's intentional. Either way, Fender/Gretsch has some explaining to do.

 

[Adagietto]

I'm actually hoping this line isn't true: "...the G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale is easily capable of filling a room with massive subsonic tones."

Maybe they're planning on moving into the HPF market. We'll need to check them to make sure they're not LPFs, though.

 

[Kevin Doyle]

I really appreciate catching this lobster! It’s funny because I have been thinking about getting one of these but I kept getting put off by how every so often someone would complain they were noisy… The principal just fills me with rage! If I owned one even if I bought it five years ago, I would be demanding a full refund!

 

[B-Mac]

Are these basses fully manufactured in China? Perhaps China just changed the spec on the bass some years ago.

Short story: a friend of mine was an engineer for an appliance manufacturer. His company arranged to buy hinges for refrigerator doors from China. They sent the plans / specs over, China made prototype hinges, they were good, so the company ordered about 100k hinges.

Fast forward several weeks; doors start falling off refrigerators on the assembly line. After China started production of the hinges, they took it upon themselves to change to a lower cost steel to increase their profits.

Did 2220 basses once have humbuckers & “the manufacturing contractor” decide to make the change to single coil? Did they once have a “neck” and “bridge” pickup?

Maybe we’ll find out….

It's still on Gretsch to do QC. No excuse. Gretsch/FMIC dropped the ball.

 

[spatters]

Outstanding work, @LowEndLobster !

Anyone can use archive.ph to save copies of webpages, and to check if there are versions already saved. (Also found at archive.today, archive.is, archive.fo...it's the same website)

For instance, the page linked above: G2220 Electromatic® Junior Jet™ Bass II Short-Scale, Black Walnut Fingerboard, Torino Green

Is now archived at: archive.ph

 

[Patrice B]

The thing which really stands out to me is that single coils aren't a negative, especially at $300. However, on the flip side... a $300 bass with two humbuckers (especially when they're mentioned quite a bit as a 'feature') is value added. This is like buying a car that is advertised as a V8, only to discover a 4 cylinder under a plastic V8 looking engine cover Does it still drive from point a to b? Sure. Are folks still going to enjoy the car regardless? Sure. Are consumers getting what's being advertised? No, and that's messed up. It's not like four cylinder cars don't sell, and it's not like a four cylinder engine is a negative aspect of the car.... but when it's being advertised as a v8, one expects to receive a v8. Anything less is disingenuous and dishonest.

… and you wonder why it’s inherently noisy and finally discover that’s because they’re not humbuckers! Like mine a lot however for the low price…

 

[Patrice B]

It actually says the words "dual coil" and not just humbucker....

« Gretsch mini dual-coil bass humbucking pickups »

 

[LBS-bass]

… and you wonder why it’s inherently noisy and finally discover that’s because they’re not humbuckers! Like mine a lot however for the low price…

Yes, I'm not bothered by this in this bass at this price point, per se, but it's not cool that this was advertised as having components it doesn't have. I won't be tossing mine into the garbage can, but I'm disappointed in the company for letting this happen.

 

[Patrice B]

From Wayback Machine August 28th 2021:

**So, the wording was different at this time?

 

[chriss]

Before watching the video, I was going to suggest perhaps adding a question mark after the word fraud, just in case it was libellous.

Having now watched the video, it's hard to defend against the points you've raised (and inevitably their defense will be a "typo" on the website, and an apology for any misunderstanding).

The word fraud is something to use carefully. You have to be able to prove an intent to defraud. The definition is as follows: wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

That can be very difficult to prove

 

[Patrice B]

The word fraud is something to use carefully. You have to be able to prove an intent to defraud. The definition is as follows: wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

That can be very difficult to prove

Misrepresenting? « Mini-humbucker » means hum canceling pickup for me…